The application in question consists of a spring clip which is very well known for use in many sectors and in a very wide range of applications and hereinafter consideration will only be given to a few, meaning that many others are in any case included.
According to the prior art, a spring clip, which may have different shapes and is usually made of steel or lightweight alloys, has one side which can be opened by a lever, if necessary locked by a ring nut. It is used where it is necessary to join elements in a quick, safe and reusable manner, and for this reason it is often used for sports such as climbing, mountaineering, paragliding and caving, but also for uses, for example, for attaching the leash to the collar of pets.
In effect, pets and in particular dogs, are walked outdoors using leashes, the strap of which can be fastened in some cases to the collar applied to the neck of the animal, or in other cases to a harness, which retains the animal not by the neck but by the entire front part of the body.
Again in the case of pets, it is also known that the leash is equipped at one end with a grip which allows it to be gripped by the owner and at the other end with a spring clip for attaching it to the collar.
In any case, the spring clip generally consists of a central body having a first longitudinal end provided with a ring for fixed connection with the leash, and a second hook-shaped end or hook which can be closed by a pin slidable in an axial direction in order to attach to the object to be retained, such as the ring of the collar, or other element.
The pin has elastic loading means designed to hold it in the closed position so that in order to release the spring clip from the collar it is necessary to grip the relative central body with one hand and exert an action with the thumb of the other hand on the pin aimed at opening the coupling means.
The same operations are however essential for coupling the spring clip to the collar, requiring a certain care in it execution by the user.
A first drawback is due to a certain difficulty in the step of coupling the spring clip to the retaining element, since a certain pressure must be exerted to open the closing device whilst trying to attach the spring clip to the gripping ring or other retaining element.
A further drawback is represented by the fact that the releasing of the spring clip is often difficult especially as a result of the fact that the animal, feeling that it is restrained, tends to make sudden movements which hinder the action by the owner.
In other contexts, such as the sports, nautical and mountaineering sectors, in which a certain speed of action is required, especially in emergency situations, the coupling and release of the traditional spring clips can be very difficult and in some cases become even dangerous due to unforeseeable consequences resulting from a lack of speed and precision during the coupling and/or releasing steps.
These situations constitute risks for the user who in the case of a leash may be subjected to strong tugs if the animal is large, whilst in other cases the owner may be subjected to unexpected and uncontrollable consequences.
Another drawback found by the operators in the “pet comfort” sector is represented by the fact that during the coupling of the traditional spring clip to the collar of the animal it is necessary to manually open the closing pin of the hook with inevitable retaining of the pet's collar.
Also in this case it is not easy to control since the animal tends to move both when it is freed and when it is about to be attached to the leash.